Talk:Swain/@comment-4011002-20110722183040/@comment-3165723-20110723045829
Oh i didnt read correctly, it asks for who's better in solo queue. Definitely Swain. But ONLY if you know how to play him. You have to know how to land his W and use your ult. If you can't land your W, don't play him, that simple. Swain can put out alot of single target damage and a decent-to-great amount of AoE. First item Doran's Ring (i use all ap quint runes to make it about 32 ap at level 1) Grab a RoA asap. If you're laning mid against a heavy magic damage champ like Annie or Vlad, grab a Negatron cloak first after you make it to base, this will basically make you unkillable in laning since their burst is considerably less harmful (about half as harmful), and since you don't really need alot of AP to do great early game damage (at least not from items besides Dorans as long as you have ap quints), you aren't wasting damage potential building defensively. Against dpsers like Vayne and Cait (maybe not so much cait because of her range) you can just regain the health they take away through your ult since Swain is pretty much anti dps, which means you can just spec more offensively, esp since his ult heals based on its damage. And remember, if you can't land your W, don't play swain. That ability is absolutely necessary. So necessary, i level it first. It applies a generous amount of aoe damage and snares for a crazy duration. My combo is W, E, Q, ignite if it's off CD, Ult (i actually just pop the ult whenever i get close.) All this puts out A LOT of threat early game, and you will almost always send the enemy into retreat mode. If they're lucky, they MIGHT survive through that burst, in which case your ignite and E will kill them. I kinda just feel out what ability to level secondarily. I level Q or E based on which one i think will be more useful, that you have to decide for yourself. Items i go Doran's ring, random situational stuff (Negatron, Mana crystal, Health crystal, etc.) but you will prolly wanna go Catalyst most of the time, Sorcerer's shoes, the first real item i complete is usually RoA, then i go for hextech revolver, WotA, prolly Abyssal scepter, Rylai's if i need survivability/more slows, otherwise prolly a Rabadon's Deathcap, and Zhonya's hourglass. The neat thing about swain is that after you get WotA, AP actually kinda offers you survivability on top of damage, as your damage becomes huge heals, and i'm relatively sure each bird from Swain's ult heals for the full amount from Spellvamp, as opposed to the 30% of aoe abilities. Don't be afraid to get in people's faces if you think you can survive. Your ult gives you alot of sustainability against multiple targets, 3 is the magic number, and your CC can even keep the melee champs from getting close if you know how to kite at close range (sounds weird but it works). Essay completed.